U.S. Postal Service Delivering Holiday Hints to 140 Million

WASHINGTON — It’s coming to a mailbox near you, a personal 2012 Holiday Shipping and Mailing Guide courtesy of the U.S. Postal Service. 140 million guides are in the mail — 10 million in Spanish covering 143 ZIP codes — providing clear and concise information on all of the Postal Service’s shipping options, services and products, with an emphasis on convenience and value to the consumer.

“Everyone can use a little extra time around the holidays, with more choice and convenience to help manage their busy lives,” said Nagisa Manabe, chief marketing officer, executive vice president, U.S. Postal Service. “The Holiday Guide is one more way for us to connect with families to help them enjoy the best the season has to offer.”

The eight-panel, brightly colored, holiday-themed guide gives information on the Postal Service’s most popular products, services and features, along with recommended holiday shipping deadlines so your cards and packages arrive on time.

The mailing also includes information about usps.com/cheer, a new dedicated holiday website where consumers can print shipping labels, order free Priority Mail Boxes, purchase postage and request a free package pickup — all with the touch of a finger. And for most packages, consumers can enter label numbers at usps.com and check delivery status with the Track and Confirm tool.

The Holiday Guide also contains a QR code you can scan with your smartphone for additional holiday tips and suggestions. And as you plan your holiday shopping, be sure to check your mailbox through Nov. 21 for exciting offers that use QR codes.

“We are excited to bring the Postal Service into every home across the country,” said Manabe. “With a QR code that can be scanned to access up-to-date information, this mailing is sure to make holiday shipping and mailing simpler than ever before and help consumers manage this busy time of year.”

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.